Lab-on-a-chip

Lab-on-a-chip devices or micro-total-analysis-systems (µTAS)

The area of microtechnology has been a growing area for a long time now. During the last decade the new field of micro-total-analysis-systems (µTAS) or "lab-on-a-chip" devices branched off conventional microtechnology. The idea of these devices is to integrate all necessary functions for chemical analysis onto one chip. Integrated functions are for instance sample pre-treatment, microfluidics and detection. While in conventional laboratories specialized equipment is used to perform single analysis steps, lab-on-a-chip systems accomplish all these functions in a small, portable unit. Samples can be analyzed close to the location where analysis is required, which means that transportation of samples into a laboratory is not necessary anymore. Thus µTAS bring detection close to the customer and make specialized equipment and tiresom lab work redudant. Another aspect of miniaturization is the reduction of sample and reactant volume, which on the one hand increases the efficiency and on the other hand reduces costs. Portability facilitates the possibility of continuous monitoring. Offering a wide variety of chemical analyses, these systems can for example stay self-sufficient in the environment to log environmental data or be worn at the body for monitoring medical parameters. Additionally, microfabrication provides the possibility of mass production. Once a design is determined, it can be fabricated reproducibly in large numbers. Next to cost reduction, this may afford parallel or high throughput analyses.